Harrisburg is the third busiest airport in Pennsylvania. The airport code MDT is a reference to the surrounding community of Middletown, which is a suburb of Harrisburg. Planes landing at MDT from the south are often routed near or over Three Mile Island, only a few miles from the airport. If you were alive in the late 1970's, you may recall 3 Mile Island (Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident ).
Here's the airport website: http://www.flyhia.com/ . It's best to rent a car, but if you're staying in the town, you can use the local bus system. Route 7 of the Capital Area Transit System (Website: http://www.cattransit.com/ ) provides bus transportation between the airport and downtown Harrisburg and surrounding communities. The Middleton Amtrak Station, located approximately 3 miles (5 km) east of the Terminal, provides Amtrak Train service via the high-speed Northeast and Keystone corridors. Although there had been a proposal to construct a new rail terminal adjacent to the airport, nothing will be done in the forseable future. Amtrak Website for Harrisburg: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=HAR . Three places to visit near Harrisburg are Hershey, Pennsylvania (15 miles east of Harrisburg), and it's chocolate making factory (Website: http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/ ) that I personally did not visit, The second place is Gettysburg, PA and the famous Civil War Battlefield, which I did visit. Gettysburg is about 45 minutes SW of Harrisburg on US Highway 15 South. Here's some websites for the battlefield: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_National_Park and http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm and http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/. 2013 will be the 150th Anniversary of the battle. There are interesting displays, videos, and ranger talks. Near the battlefield is the Appalachian Brewing Company (Website: http://www.abcbrew.com/gettysburg/index.htm), which serves good beer and food. Try the Watergap Wheat. The third place is the Daniel Boone Homestead where Daniel Boone was born (Websites: http://www.danielboonehomestead.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone_Homestead ). In Harrisburg, we visited the Lancaster Brewing Company (Website: http://www.lancasterbrewing.com/ ). The Strawberry Wheat Beer is grea t! Downtown Harrisburg has some night spots to visit. Here's a downtown website: http://www.downtownafterdark.com/ . Numerous hotels are near the airport. Here's a guide for them: http://harrisburg.airporthotelguide.com/ . Frontier service to Harrisburg is currently seasonal from May 1 through the end of October. You can also fly to Orlando on Frontier from Harrisburg.
Gettysburg is an impressive sight to visit.
Enjoy Harrisburg and Gettysburg!
Mike Summers
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Harrisburg Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Harrisburg
Gettysburg Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Gettysburg
Mike Summers; September 2012:
Harrisburg is the third busiest airport in Pennsylvania. The airport code MDT is a reference to the surrounding community of Middletown, which is a suburb of Harrisburg. Planes landing at MDT from the south are often routed near or over Three Mile Island, only a few miles from the airport. If you were alive in the late 1970's, you may recall 3 Mile Island (Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident ).
Here's the airport website: http://www.flyhia.com/ . It's best to rent a car, but if you're staying in the town, you can use the local bus system. Route 7 of the Capital Area Transit System (Website: http://www.cattransit.com/ ) provides bus transportation between the airport and downtown Harrisburg and surrounding communities. The Middleton Amtrak Station, located approximately 3 miles (5 km) east of the Terminal, provides Amtrak Train service via the high-speed Northeast and Keystone corridors. Although there had been a proposal to construct a new rail terminal adjacent to the airport, nothing will be done in the forseable future. Amtrak Website for Harrisburg:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=HAR . Three places to visit near Harrisburg are Hershey, Pennsylvania (15 miles east of Harrisburg), and it's chocolate making factory (Website: http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/ ) that I personally did not visit, The second place is Gettysburg, PA and the famous Civil War Battlefield, which I did visit. Gettysburg is about 45 minutes SW of Harrisburg on US Highway 15 South. Here's some websites for the battlefield: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_National_Park and http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm and http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/. 2013 will be the 150th Anniversary of the battle. There are interesting displays, videos, and ranger talks. Near the battlefield is the Appalachian Brewing Company (Website: http://www.abcbrew.com/gettysburg/index.htm), which serves good beer and food. Try the Watergap Wheat. The third place is the Daniel Boone Homestead where Daniel Boone was born (Websites:
http://www.danielboonehomestead.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone_Homestead ). In Harrisburg, we visited the Lancaster Brewing Company (Website: http://www.lancasterbrewing.com/ ). The Strawberry Wheat Beer is grea t! Downtown Harrisburg has some night spots to visit. Here's a downtown website: http://www.downtownafterdark.com/ . Numerous hotels are near the airport. Here's a guide for them: http://harrisburg.airporthotelguide.com/ . Frontier service to Harrisburg is currently seasonal from May 1 through the end of October. You can also fly to Orlando on Frontier from Harrisburg.
Gettysburg is an impressive sight to visit.
Enjoy Harrisburg and Gettysburg!
Mike Summers